ILM brings an orc to life in these first pics from Duncan Jones' Warcraft

The last time we heard anything on the WARCRAFT front, it was that the release date was bumped back from March of next year to the following June. A smart move on Universal's part if they want Duncan Jones' (SOURCE CODE, MOON) big-budget fantasy to find an audience. If anything, this post-production time (nearly 2 years!) will allow the animators at ILM to refine their work on what looks to be a movie with a cast that's nearly 50% digital (a la DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES). The orcs will all be portrayed via motion capture and ILM has just released a couple of images on what one of the lead orcs, Orgrim (played by Robert Kazinsky), will look like.

Motion-capture and animation are getting to the point where you can really see the actor in the finished product. You may know Robert Kazinsky as the dickhead jaeger pilot from Guillermo del Toro's PACIFIC RIM, and while I don't quite see him here, I'll wait to see this big guy in motion. Duncan Jones seems to be painting his WARCRAFT world in shades of gray, so I'm curious to see if Kazinsky has the chops to pull of the performance needed for the audience to somewhat empathize with the character. The model looks decent, as far as CG goes, but it will be the story that makes the biggest impact. Duncan Jones is swinging for the fences with his third picture, and despite not having any attachment to the WARCRAFT franchise, I hope he knocks it out of the park.